Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) had more than 250 local and international delegates to a special Sarawak style luncheon at the PATA Adventure Travel Conference and Mart (ATCM) 2020 held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah recently.

ACTM gathered a diverse line up of international experts who are at the forefront of the fastest-growing tourism sectors, providing the perfect platform for travel trade professionals to gain deeper insights on adventure travel trends and contribute towards creating more responsible travel in the tourism industry.

Mary Wan Mering, STB’s Director of Corporate Services said “Tourism is recognized worldwide as a key driver of economic growth and job creation. Last year, Sarawak had a target arrival of 5 million visitors, which was indeed difficult, but not impossible.

“The number has also surpassed the UNWTO’s global growth predicted in 2019 and arrivals standing at 4.66 million is what Sarawak would be looking at this year,”.

Sarawak also focuses on ‘Responsible Tourism’ which emphasizes people, businesses and governments to maximize the positive economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism.

She added “With the recent Corona Virus outbreak, tourism is going through a difficult moment not only in Malaysia but worldwide. Tourism is vulnerable to the effects of public health emergencies and is already being affected by this outbreak. However, there are stepping stones that we can take, to continue to highlight Sarawak and Malaysia on the global tourism map,”.

Sarawak will also play host to the PATA Destination Marketing Forum (PDMF) 2020 which will take place in Kuching from Nov 25 to 27. The three-day event will be hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak, alongside STB and the Sarawak Convention Bureau.